About Coventry Cyrenians

Our services

What we do

Established in 1973, we provide a comprehensive range of high quality services to homeless and vulnerably housed people in Coventry and Warwickshire. Our mission statement is to provide individualised support to promote and enhance the life chances of people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, and empower them to live as independently as possible. Our services currently include the Coventry Supported Accommodation Service, Stratford Upon Avon Temporary Accommodation for Single Adults and Young Person's Alcohol Intervention & Mediation Service. Our accommodation services provide over 146 units of accommodation, which are made up of properties situated across Coventry & Warwickshire. We provide more supported accommodation for single homeless adults than any other single agency in Coventry. The traditional view of homelessness has tended to focus on negative stereotypes. At Coventry Cyrenians we view our role as helping people to rebuild their lives.

We provide more supported accommodation for homeless people in Coventry than any other organisation

Over two thirds of the people we see are experiencing mental health challenges and more than one in five are sleeping rough when we accommodate them

Over 90% of people leaving our service report improvements in one or more areas of their life

About one in five of our residents obtain paid employment by the time they move on from us, many benefiting from our own employment and training opportunities

We generate 80% of our income from accommodation charges but rely on public support and donations to enable us to continue our work

We also run an exciting social enterprise store called 'Windsor's & Refreshed'​ - combining quality products and work experience opportunities. It is a cafe, boutique and emporium all in one place. Visit us at 98-101 Far Gosford Street, Coventry.

Our impact

The following statistics are highlights from our recent impact report for 2017/18 across all our services.

OCCUPIED NIGHTS

48,628 – total number of occupied nights

POSITIVE OUTCOMES

88% - those reporting one or more positive life improvements

67% - those reporting three or more positive life improvements

4.6 - average number of positive outcomes reported per person

KEY AREAS OF LIFE IMPROVEMENT REPORTED

64% - improvement in general well-being

60% - improved mental health

59.4% - improved money management

46.9% - improved physical health

24.6% - reduced or ceased drug misuse*

21.7% - reduced or ceased alcohol misuse*

18.9% - obtained paid employment

18.3% - accessed vocational/job related training

*these are percentages of the total number of people, not the number presenting with these challenges

CLIENT FEEDBACK

We offer all beneficiaries leaving the service an opportunity to complete an 'exit questionnaire' when they leave the service (anonymously if they wish). In answer to specific questions regarding service delivery, the findings were as follows:

100% - felt listened to

100% - felt confidentiality was respected

100% - would recommend the service for others

98% - felt the service met their needs

97% - felt the experience gave them confidence for the future

93% - felt the accommodation was clean and comfortable

Timeline

1973

A single volunteer was recruited to run a night shelter for up to 10 single homeless men. This was in response to research confirming the existence of a major rough sleeping problem in the Hillfields area of the city

1976

The first paid employee was recruited to manage a team of volunteers

1977

A new night shelter was opened providing accommodation for up to 26 homeless men and women

1981

Our first shared house was opened providing longer term accommodation for a group of regular night shelter users

1984

The Emergency Accommodation Service opens providing a direct link to providers of overnight accommodation.

1985

Successful fundraising enabled us to purchase the first of our six properties

1988

Following a significant increase in homelessness among women in the city, we employed our first dedicated Women's worker

1994

Opening of a purpose built advice centre and offices

1994

Employment of our first qualified Mental Health nurse

1998

Awarded the largest ever National Lottery social sector grant in the West Midlands facilitating the provision of floating support and outreach services and marking a major breakthrough in the delivery of housing support services in the city

2001

Emergency Accommodation Service receives national recognition when quoted in a government report as one of the best preventative models in the UK

2002

Awarded Legal Services Commission "quality mark" in recognition of high service standards

2003

Introduction of "Supporting People" funding contracts results in doubling of turnover to over £2 million per annum

2004

Enquiries reach 9,000 per year for the first time with ever increasing numbers of 16 and 17 year olds requesting assistance.

2005

The introduction of a new direct access project for young people providing 24 hour emergency accommodation brings the number of supported housing units to over 70.

2007

Rough Sleepers unit developed as part of Outreach contract to target growing numbers of rough sleepers in the city

2008

Merger with Coventry Day Centre for the Homeless broadens range of services available to service users

2009

Awarded ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Standard

2010

Successful tenders for the new contracts in Warwickshire led to accommodation and resettlement services in Stratford and Nuneaton. A joint review of Day Centre Services with the Coventry PCT led to the setting up of a Multiple Needs Service to target homeless people with complex needs.

2011

A successful bid to Crisis saw the opening of a Tenancy Sustainment project in partnership with Coventry Citizens Advice Bureau.

2012

Windsor’s and Refreshed coffee shop and vintage fashion clothing opened. Specific work begins with ex-servicemen and women aged 18 and over. It is an 8 bed supported housing project with therapeutic interventions based in the centre of Coventry.

2013

Coventry Cyrenians celebrates its 40th Birthday. Successfully secured funding from Coventry City Council through the Supporting People Programme to expand our Young Person’s Residential Service.

2014

Having been unsuccessful in tendering for the adult homelessness services contract in Coventry, Cyrenians continue to operate a residential contract for young people aged between 16 and 24. Contracted services to adults in Coventry, however, in the form of residential, floating support and rough sleepers, have been discontinued.

2014

Three tenders were won in Coventry to increase our accommodation services from 41-81.

2015

A successful Big Lottery bid sees us expand employment and training initiatives for young people within our retail outlets.

2015

Coventry Support Accommodation Service was launched, providing 131 bed spaces for single homeless individuals independent of Coventry Council funding.

2016

Accelerate Project Launches, in partnership with twenty-five organisations. Providing help, advice and enabling clients in the Coventry area to overcome barriers into employment.

2017

Big Lottery funds Young Person’s Alcohol & Mediation Service for another four years. Providing advice, counselling, advocacy and a range of related support for local young people